- Morgan Stanley starts off coverage on Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ:RIDE) with an Underweight rating.
- Analyst Adam Jonas: "RIDE benefits from a nearly free plant (acquired from GM) and a highly experienced management team with a plan to enter the commercial pickup market. However, the company faces a flood of new competition in EV pickups from startups and legacy OEMs with far greater scale and distribution advantages."
- Jonas thinks the company's radical new hub motor technology is a good concept, but notes that it has never been commercialized at scale in the light vehicle market. An after following a series of channel checks on the propulsion tech, the firm believes investors would be exposed to significantly elevated execution risk.
- MS assigns a price target of $18 to RIDE.
- Shares of Lordstown are down 5.56% premarket to $29.00 vs. the trading range of $9.50 to $31.80.